*The family of Marvin Gaye scored a major victory in its lawsuit against Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke.
For Gaye’s ex-wife Janis, the victory and the case almost didn’t happen as she admits her initial hesitancy in filing the suit against Williams and Thicke for copyright infringement of the music legend’s classic hit “Got to Give It Up” on their 2013 summer hit, “Blurred Lines.” Janis and Gaye were married for four years in the late 70s and early 80s, notes Essence, which added that he couple has two kids.
“When I…seriously thought about it, if Marvin were alive today, he would not stand for anyone doing what they did to his song,” Janis shared with ABC News Radio. “So we’re here, as his family, and the kids as his heirs, they’re here, and I’m here to protect what Marvin left.”
Looking back on the case, Janis had no trouble mentioning Williams’ celebrity status while voicing that she felt his sorrow was forced as the proceedings went on in court.
“[Pharrell] did that faux ‘I’m-going-to-sing-the-praises-of-my-greatest-hero-but-I’m-going-to-take-my-hand-and-put-it-in-the-pockets-of-his-children-because-he’s-no-longer-living, and ‘I’m Pharrell Williams, and I’m on The Voice, and I can do this,'” she stated. “There was a lot of entitlement there.”
As for “Blurred Lines” itself, Janis confessed that while she initially liked the song, her feelings toward it have since passed over.
“Initially, I really, really liked the song, but it gave me the feeling that I got back in 1977 when Marvin did ‘Got to Give It Up,'” she said.
“It’s the first song that my daughter Nona learned to do dance to. It’s the first song that she remembers her father doing. So it’s a special song to us out of his catalog. It stands on its own. I’m a little tired of it at this point.”
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